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My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 6:31 pm
by pmaxey83
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So I felt like diving into the world of high end knives.. I owned this knife for about 1 month before I decided I would rather get my money back out of it then continue to use it.

The knife is a Chris Reeve Knive's Sebenza 25 with full titanium frame lock, and the large hollow grind S35VN clip point style blade. It was an extremely smooth(go figure) and sturdy folder. After handling it for the first week, I fully understood the hype behind CRK knives. It is a TANK, this knife is meant to be worked, and it's meant to last. It has a full life time warranty and they will fix anything that breaks on this knife for FREE, just as long as you have not destroyed the knife trying to mod or change it. Now CRK does not say you cannot take your knife apart. In fact, CRK includes all their knives with the tools and fluids/loctite to take apart the knife and it back together again. It's actually Chris Reeve's personal choice to encourage owners to maintain their knives as much as they can. They also do not mind if you send in a knife that's half taken apart, they will put it back together for you.

Anyways, hope you guys liked this little write up. I will have another high end blade to talk about in a few months, maybe I won't sell this next one.

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 6:38 pm
by MBI
Nice knife. I have a couple of Chris Reeve fixed blade knives but I can't remember if I have any folders. I bet it was hard to decide to sell it.

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 6:47 pm
by pmaxey83
It was extremely hard to sell this knife. I hated letting it go, but I had my fun owning one, there's a new blade I'm looking at.

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 3:55 pm
by rerun12
wow thats crazy..i was looking to buy the same exact knife just yesterday. thanks for the review, you've helped me reach a decision

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 4:39 pm
by pmaxey83
Word of advice, buy from authorized dealers. Don't screw around with ebay unless it's a legit authorized dealer. You can email or even call CRK and they will authorize if the dealer is legit or not. There are a ton of GOOD knock offs out there today, shit I saw a fake CRK go for 4x the price it's sold for on 3rd party sites the other day on ebay.

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 10:51 pm
by escher7
There are so many high quality production knives out there that carrying a $400+ folder doesn't make much sense. I carry a Ron Lake designed CRKT model 111 (about $25 U.S.) . The 8Cr14MoV steel is not quite as abrasion resistant as the Reeves knife, but the average user would not notice the difference. And it has a positive locking mechanism which ensures against accidental closing, as well as a beautiful hollow grind that comes razor sharp.

I have owned many custom folders, but never carried them for fear of loss. And sharpening the blades takes away much of the collector value. I just sold my last one, (a Centofante pearl lockback), for a good price so at least the investment was worthwhile.

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:21 pm
by DroppedTensionWrench
What are you looking at getting next?

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 1:30 pm
by pmaxey83
Well since I sold this, I found a gently used Sebenza 21 for a steal of a price. It actually was purchased from a dealer than had warranty work done because the plunge line(I believe that is the term) was a bit proud on one side. The knife came with full paper works, box, wrench, emails with CRK, and even a refund check from CRK for return shipping.

I plan on placing this knife in EDC rotation and keeping it forever, since I was able to get such a great price on it. I do have one more knife in sight though. It is the production version of the Todd Begg Kwaiken. I had pre-ordered it as soon as I heard it was being released, and now it's pretty much sold out all over. That one might become a "safe queen" if I don't flip it as soon as I get it.(in October)

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 5:07 pm
by Papa Gleb
Wow this is all so interesting. up until just a week ago I thought knives were all the same especially from watching tons of youtube videos of gents making knives on their CNC machines. That thought changed instantly when I seen a video of Stan Wilson and his knives. I was blown away at the craftsmanship, the quality, the hand made everything and so much more. I realized that this is something I also have to get into when time permits. now that I see all of you throwing out all those names makes me realize I will need a lot of time if I want to be fleunt in knives as I am in locks lol.

How many top knife makers are there? Are we talking 10 or 1000000? Am I right to assume you all know who Stan Wilson is?

PMaxey, that knife looks perfect. Glad to hear you got a great deal on it and now are getting/owning more.

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 5:07 pm
by Papa Gleb
Wow this is all so interesting. up until just a week ago I thought knives were all the same especially from watching tons of youtube videos of gents making knives on their CNC machines. That thought changed instantly when I seen a video of Stan Wilson and his knives. I was blown away at the craftsmanship, the quality, the hand made everything and so much more. I realized that this is something I also have to get into when time permits. now that I see all of you throwing out all those names makes me realize I will need a lot of time if I want to be fleunt in knives as I am in locks lol.

How many top knife makers are there? Are we talking 10 or 1000000? Am I right to assume you all know who Stan Wilson is?

PMaxey, that knife looks perfect. Glad to hear you got a great deal on it and now are getting/owning more.

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:46 am
by pmaxey83
Papa Gleb,

I wouldn't assume everyone knows Stan Wilson, but I have seen his work quite a few times on Youtube and just lurking through knife forums.

As far as top makers? Well that's a hard question man.

You have guys like Chris Reeve who have $400 production frame lock folding knife made out of 6Al4V Titanium/S35VN with a fit and finish that would rival any knife maker in the world in regards to consistency and perfection. Plus they have a lifetime warranty combo-ed with some of the best customer service you can ask for.(example: my Seb21 was purchased this year but produced in 2012. It could have easily been abused and returned but CRK didn't even question the warranty, they just did it)

You also have guys like David Deng of Reate knife. This guy is creating sub $200 frame lock knives(depending on the model) made of the same 6Al4V Titanium/S35VN, but his shop is located in China. Yet, his fit and finish is so impeccable, that you would never assume the knife was made in China. He also has started to create production versions of customs for the likes of Todd Begg and Liong Mah. It also really shows how much of a premium we pay for a "USA made" stamp(although you can buy similar USA made knives by Zero Tolerance, but the high production numbers make getting the perfect knife a crap shoot); but also note the Reate operation is not a Chinese sweat shop, all of the production is personally overseen by David Deng.(My wife owns a Reate Hills, I will do a write up on it)

The funny thing is, those two top makers are only making production knives. They might use extremely high tolerances in their manufacturing process, and they may have someone hand grinding the blades, but at the end of the day they are still just making production knives.(albeit at a much lower number than bigger companies)

When you start getting into true custom knives, that's a whole other ball park. I myself do not own any high end custom knives. If you would like to see a slew of customs and one offs check out this YT channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo6AHd ... h2HlFR4b0A

His name is Jim Skelton, and apparently he has a lot of money.

Re: My Time with a Sebenza 25.

PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 8:44 am
by Papa Gleb
Thanks for the explanation. I think I am a bit clearer on knifes but then again confused in my own ways lol. I ran across this youtuber that you mentioned but Ill take a closer look. Thanks.